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Albert Herrington
|marital = Single |birth = 1970 |death = After 2020 |species = Human |gender = Male |height = 1.7 meters |mass= |eyes = Black |masters= |apprentices=Tyler Grant Junior }} Albert Herrington (b. 1970) was a junk dealer/trafficker, who owned a shop in New York City, New York. Making his way to New York, he fell in with the local scavengers, and learned how to trade from them. Once he felt he had learned all he could, he abandoned the scavengers, and set up Albert's Shop in New York City, making a lucrative business for himself. Eventually, he came into possession of a young slave, Tyler Grant Jr., who proved to be a gifted mechanic, and an invaluable asset to the running of the store. Soon enough, Albert discovered that the boy had an affinity for skyracing. Albert would often bet on the skyraces, and was an avid fan, so he had Tyler race for him in several tournaments. Although the baby never won, he was clearly gifted. During one particular race, Tyler destroyed Albert's own skyracer, which incurred the dealer's wrath. Shortly thereafter, S.M.S.B. leader Baby Intelligence claimed that he had his own skyracer, and that he wanted Tyler to fly it in a skyrace. Albert conceded to the deal, but decided to bet against Tyler, instead investing in Whammo Fireball. Baby Intelligence took the bet, wagering his ship against Tyler's freedom. Ultimately, Tyler won the race, and Albert was left with very little, his business declining. Albert stayed in business until the Shadow Wars, when he handed over ownership of his shop to his assistant, Walt Bird. Biography Early life Albert Herrington was born in 1970 to two Fobbles. At an unknown time, he moved to New York City, and at first he spent time with the native scavengers, listening to their stories and legends of scrap finds in the desert, as well as sales techniques. He also learned the secrets of the economy. When he had learned all he could from the scavengers, he either abandoned or reported his friends among them. The dealer eventually set up a junk shop at the edge of town, for a time borrowing money to pay for the building. After making his first successful deal, Albert added a bell shaped dome to the apex of the shop's dome. He also purchased a clan bell, which would normally be in the possession of a noble family, and hung it above his perch. Although he insisted that his shop was a parts dealership, almost everyone dismissed it as a junk shop. In his stock, the dealer possessed both items of extreme value and quality, and scraps that not even the local scavengers would take. Albert would utilize his robots in a variety of roles, having them repair items, or fetch certain pieces of merchandise for customers. To guard his junkyard at the rear of the shop, he modified two dagger-bots to serve as security. The man preferred to do business with foreigners, rather than seasoned locals, as they were easier to con out of their hard-earned money. Among Albert's staff was a robot that assisted with the shopkeeping. He also possessed a datapad, on which he would maintain his accounting records. Albert rarely used an inventory, however, as he had a great memory for what stock he did and did not have. Also in Albert's arsenal were several chance cubes, which he would use to swindle others in games of chance. Another of Albert's personal effects was his cane, which was made from the bone of a monster. Although he had left family behind, he cut off contact with them, as he feared that they would try and exploit his newfound success. Within a year, he had earned enough to pay off his debts. Despite his initial success, however, he was not satisfied, and was convinced that either his robots were malfunctioning, or scavengers were sneaking into his yard and stealing merchandise. Acquiring Tyler Grant Jnr In time, he began betting on the skyraces with Katie Black. Albert was a great fan of the sport, and would often service the pilots before races. He had his own seating box at the Grand Arena, which he shared with several friends and acquaintances. He had even organized three races of his own. He began accumulating all manner of memorabilia from the races, and dedicated an entire wall of his nest to storing and displaying his collected trophies and trinkets. In time, he became particularly adept at retrieving his money from those who owed him. One day, Albert noticed a mutant baby who deeply resembled Baby Intelligence, telekinetically repelling a beggar’s hammer. The dealer was impressed, and told the baby he would adopt him if he wanted, and warned he would be nothing more than his tool. The baby agreed, and within two days, Albert owned him. Tyler lived with Albert in his house, which was connected to the junkyard. Albert made a habit of scolding Tyler — so much so that it became a daily part of their lives. Tyler was exceedingly valuable to Albert for his considerable mechanical talent. As the years passed, Albert’s Shop thrived, and the dealer even gave Tyler his own bedroom. With Tyler's help, Albert made a business out of fixing robots. When Whammo Fireball blasted a repair droid because it was not moving quick enough, Albert repaired it. At the time, he was also repairing two other robots; Albert noticed that Tyler was especially skilled at fixing the latter type. He also acquired a number of power-bots to power up machinery in the shop. At one point, Albert discarded a small skyracer that was too burned out for and proper use, but Tyler took a particular interest in it nonetheless. One day, Albert heard that there had been a substantial crash involving an airplane, and two speeders. The parts from the vehicles were to be sold off in Cedarville, and the merchant was eager to bid for them. However, he would have to make a day-long journey to Cedarville in order to do so, and that meant closing the shop — not an attractive prospect for the dealer in any circumstance. He decided that he would make the journey to Cedarville and close the shop, but he refused to give his slave a day off, and so he gave Tyler a long list of chores to complete, which would take the baby eight hours to complete. Skyracing Albert had known that Tyler was adept at piloting speeders. What the dealer did not expect was the baby’s affinity for skyracing. One day, while enjoying a drink at a local bar, Albert watched on as Tyler approached him, carrying a datapad he was to deliver. A bar brawl broke out at that moment, but the baby was able to navigate through it without sustaining so much as a scratch. Albert introduced Tyler to skyracing the next day. Since Albert was still a gambler, he saw an opportunity to generate a little more revenue for himself, and so he began sponsoring Tyler as a racer. Albert bought a plane for himself, and had the baby repair and test it. Although Tyler was not particularly successful in the two races he got to do, Albert would con others into thinking that no baby could stand a chance against adults. Secretly, Albert’s faith lied in Whammo Fireball. A week after Tyler’s participation in the race, Albert dispatched Tyler to an alley in a speeder. Out there, he was to make contact with a girl of prophecy who was said to be there. Tyler was skilled at convincing others, making him a suitable candidate for the task. Albert hoped to bend the girl to his will. However, Tyler secretly left her there, and instead introduced himself and they had a conversation. Tyler liked her, too much to take her away with him. He let her stay, and when he returned without her, said the baby was not there. Albert believed the lie; as a result, he would never learn the baby was Lindsay Kellerman. Meeting The S.M.S.B. A few months later, the S.M.S.B. crashlanded in Albert’s backyard. All four members entered Albert’s shop. Baby Intelligence immediately requested fuel for their transport, and Albert was all too happy to oblige. Summoning Tyler to watch over the shop, the dealer took Intelligence out back to peruse the junkyard. Albert had the fuel in stock. When he inquired as to how Baby Intelligence planned to pay for the fuel, the baby announced that he had eighteen pennies. The amount, however, was far from enough, and Albert demanded more suitable payment. Baby Intelligence insisted that his coins would be suitable, but Albert was unmovable on the subject of payment, and, realizing his predicament, Intelligence decided to depart. However, Albert sensed a dangerous storm coming, and feared the S.M.S.B. members wouldn’t make it to the MBH on foot. The day’s work all but done, the dealer offered the group his hospitality and place to stay during a raging hailstorm that enveloped New York City. During a dinner of sandwiches and potato chips, Baby Intelligence recounted to Tyler and Albert their plight of how they ended up being stranded at their home on a crucial mission. Tyler offered to help his newfound friends repair their car if he could. Albert proceeded to form a plan that included him setting up a skyrace. If Tyler won, he would be freed and join the S.M.S.B., and Intelligence would have his much-needed fuel. If he lost, however, Tyler would be his slave until his dying day, and the S.M.S.B. would never get any fuel from him unless they had the required five dollars. He also inquired as to what Tyler would be piloting in the race, to which Intelligence said he had built a one-man racer that he had flown alongside the Derby. Satisfied, Baby Intelligence quickly agreed to Albert’s proposal, knowing there was no alternative. Great Skyrace Albert then went to spectate from the central box. When the race started, Tyler’s plane stalled, much to the dealer’s mirth. He was eventually able to get off the starting line though, and join the race. Throughout the race, Albert believed that the odds were clearly in Whammo’s favor. True to his prediction, Whammo finished the first lap in record time, and was led to think Whammo could set a new record for the overall race. Tyler eventually moved up to third place, but Albert was sure that his slave would advance no further. When the third lap began, Whammo was still in the lead, but he was followed closely by Tyler, to Albert’s shock and surprise. Even more shocking to the dealer was Whammo’s crash towards the end of the final lap, allowing Tyler to take the lead and win the race. Albert was still fuming when Baby Intelligence entered the box. The dealer accused the baby of fraud, but Intelligence suggested that Albert should have been prepared for loss. The baby then asked Albert to fuel their car and release Tyler as soon as they returned to the junkyard, and then promised to come by the shop afterwards to take custody of him. The dealer realized he was defeated. He resignedly agreed to transfer custody of Tyler, but as soon as Baby Intelligence was gone, he began plotting vengeance against the baby. Almost immediately afterwards, Albert was approached by Katie Black, who congratulated the dealer on having his racer win. The Mayor then offered to buy Tyler back from Albert at a price of fifty dollars. Claiming the need to have time to think about such a transaction, Albert bade Black goodbye, and immediately began plotting to get Tyler back. Before he left the arena, he spied one of Katie’s guards. Approaching the guard, Albert offered him 20 dollars for a pertinent job—to “convince” Baby Intelligence to leave Tyler behind. The thug accepted the deal. Albert also enlisted the services of Vorme, in cornering Baby Intelligence, but he was unsuccessful. Fueling Baby Intelligence's tank, Albert met with Baby Intelligence again, and inquired as to whether or not Tyler would be staying in New York City. Baby Intelligence reminded him the MBH was in New York, and the dealer capitalized on the claim, suggesting that the baby and his adopted father should not be separated. The baby retorted by saying Albert only loved Tyler as a slave. The dealer told him off and turned to leave. As he left the hangar, Albert encountered the Lunch Money Bandit in an alleyway, and the merchant reminded his employee of his job. Satisfied that Baby Intelligence would be dealt with, Albert returned to his shop. Later, Whammo entered, hoping to purchase a new plane to replace the one lost in that day’s race. Albert, however, was aghast when Baby Intelligence strode through the door to his shop, unharmed. The baby was able to dismiss Whammo, and then demanded that the dealer reach for the contract Intelligence had written earlier and sign it. Albert went to his safe to retrieve the device, but the safe also contained a gun. Baby Intelligence, however, implied that he had already dispatched Albert’s hired guards, and that he was “in no mood for games.” Taking the hint, the dealer retrieved the contract, and signed it. As Intelligence left the shop, he sold Tyler’s plane to Whammo, much to the merchant’s dismay. Baby Intelligence later returned with Tyler so Tyler could pack his suitcase and they could leave. While the dealer continued to complain about his situation, the S.M.S.B. leader and the now-former slave departed his shop. Later life Albert Herrington took a considerable time to move on from his loss to Baby Intelligence. He had neglected to collect his weighted chance cube from the floor of the skyracer hangar, and would ask each customer who ventured into his shop if they had seen it. The dealer then took to heading through the streets on a search for the cube. The loss had not only affected him emotionally — it had severely damaged him financially, and had left his business in jeopardy. Without Grant to help, the dealer found it difficult to turn a profit on his new stock, and he found the robots he had enlisted to replace the baby unsatisfactory. As a result, he would often have to repair and tinker with items himself, although he was no mechanic. The news that Albert had been bested by a baby quickly spread throughout town, and the citizens began to believe that they could exploit the merchant. In no time at all, Albert owed a considerable amount of money that he had no way of collecting. Despite his financial setbacks, he purchased parts of the properties adjacent to his, in order to enlarge his premises. Some time after Tyler had left, Albert purchased a journal for himself. He grew increasingly melancholy in the wake of Tyler’s departure, and he began to miss Tyler’s presence. When a man named Nicholas killed someone that owed Albert money, the merchant posted a bounty on his head, three hundred dollars alive, one hundred fifty dead. At some point after Tyler’s departure, an airplane crash-landed into the edge of the city, opposite to Albert’s Junkyard. Looking for parts to repair the plane, the pilot came to Albert. The individual, however, did not possess the money needed to buy the parts, and so Albert informed him of the ways to earn the necessary sum. Using Albert’s advices, the pilot gambled against Evans and Whammo Fireball in a variety of games and was able to earn the money. He then bought the parts from Albert, repaired the plane, and got everyone in it to the airport. Personality and traits When he was in a particularly foul mood, Albert would hurl abuse at Tyler, and would get him to repeat tasks, even if they were redundant. He would also threaten him with beatings. Despite this, Albert was considered to be a comparatively fair master, and was neither particularly violent nor cruel. He despised insolence though, and would react to displays of it with rage. In time, Albert came to love Tyler as a person, and the dealer even allowed Tyler to earn money for himself with a small home business. Albert understood that he was not a popular figure in New York City — popularity itself mattered little to him. As a result, Albert was unapologetically abrasive. He had been a bitter individual ever since his youth. Another side effect of his total lack of vanity was his tendency to not maintain his appearance, as he left his hair messy and his shirt wrinkled. Albert also loathed to display any semblance of loyalty, affection or gratitude — he deftly denies that he cares for and is even fond of Tyler, treating him alone with warmth and kindness in spite of his greedy and self-centered nature. One of the dealer’s favorite pastimes was complaining. He would often shift blame, and fully believed that each one of his complaints about any given subject was justified. Albert was plagued by nightmares, in which Zira Grover took away his shop permanently, and Tyler left him to go with Baby Intelligence. He refused to accept responsibility for any of his own setbacks, instead using Tyler as a scapegoat. He was shrewd, and only bet when he was sure of the outcome. He also aspired to become the next dictator. When Albert lost Tyler to Baby Intelligence, he refused to accept the outcome, and sunk into depression. He was also ridiculed throughout the community for having let a baby get the better of him. Appearances * * * Notes and references Category:Unknown deaths Category:1970 births Category:Males Category:5 foot individuals Category:Fobbles Category:Neutral individuals Category:Unmarried individuals Category:Junk dealers Category:Executives and business owners